PNCLL Week #5 (3/2-3/8) - Predict, Scores, Discuss

[neil]

I'm tired of teams in the PNCLL talking about reality checks and needing to be woken up or were unprepared after they lose to a team that THEY consider to be inferior to themselves. I'm sorry but that logic just doesn't fly anymore. I'll say this once- GOOD TEAMS DON'T OVERLOOK THEIR OPPONENTS. If your excuse after losing a ball game is that you feel you shouldn't have lost is that you were unprepared or you didn't think the other team was that good, then I've got some news for you: Your team is a lot worse than you think.

The PNCLL has come a long way in quality of play since I first played in 2000, but, in my opinion, the league and teams are still young enough that adding just a couple quality players from one year to the next can have a HUGE impact on the overall quality of the team. The same can probably be said for coaching staffs as well. With the growth of HS lacrosse on the West Coast, I'm sure there will be plenty more upsets and surprises in the years to come. Even in NCAA DI lacrosse, where there is incredible disparity among the top teams (again, in my opinion) there are some pretty big upsets. Denver knocked off Virginia last year, Syracuse beat Hopkins in the Semis after losing by 12 or 13 in the regular season. Same thing in NCAA basketball- every year in the tourney, big upsets. Upsets are not a new phenomenon- good coaches and good teams prepare every game the exact same way.

[TheNino57]

I have been away from the message board for a while and am quite surprised at the comments coming from WOU. First, please refer to yourselves as something other than "Western" since there is a Western Oregon and a Western Washington in our league. Second, you guys were never 5 men down, only 3 when you played CWU. Third, CWU played the first 5 minutes of the first quarter without two of our starting defenders and played the whole game minus one of our leading scorers (it is hard to establish our "leading scorer" since our team's unselfish play has 5 players who currently have scored 19, 19, 17, 16, and 12 points thus far this season). Lastly, say what you will about Willamette. They are NOT a push-over team- they hit hard and make you work hard for every goal you may get. They are a young team and will only get better. They are also a VERY classy bunch of guys. The only guaranteed win you'll get this season will be against Evergreen State and Wazzu.

[woulax4]

First off that comment was made without the approval of our team. Rest assured in the fact that he was reprimanded by the team for that comment. We are a new team in the league and know that no win will come easy for us. Just wanted to clear that whole situation up. My apologies to Willamette for the cockiness. Central though should know that we were also missing a starting d-pole, and are a first year team. Kind of hard to have a lot of guys score when we are all so new to the game. Once again my apologies to the league and Willamette for the call. It will not happen again.

[Ballaholic]

[quote="neil"]I'm tired of teams in the PNCLL talking about reality checks and needing to be woken up or were unprepared after they lose to a team that THEY consider to be inferior to themselves.

I dont play for UO.

[Kyle Berggren]

Neil's referring to that going on for years, way back when he played in this league. I think he's trying to say that a lot of times, as opposed to saying that we got beat, we make excuses. When I say, we lost to Linfield during our first weekend of lacrosse. We were not prepared, and could have played better, it looks like I'm saying we're a better team, even though Linfield won, and we'll beat them any other day. Instead of saying great job, you beat us, we have excuses, and Neil hates it.... I used my own team's loss as the example, and I'm not saying that about Linfield, I just didn't want to point fingers at anyone else. I however hope we get to play them again come playoff time.

[TheNino57]

I would also like to play Linfield again- it was a good, physical game the last time CWU played against them down in McMinneville. They're quick, physical, and aggressive- you know that you will always get a great game out of guys like that.

[neil]

Ballaholic- I wasn't referring to your comments- just a general observation of this happening over the last couple years. I'm not trying to call anybody out or anything like that, I just think its lame when teams in the PNCLL are trying (and becoming) legitimate national contenders and then when a game is lost the excuse is "we were unprepared" or "we didn't think they would be that good."- its just ridiculous.

[WouMiddie]

I think its funny that central should say that western oregon isnt classy. We allowed them over a half an hour of time to get ready when there team wasnt all there yet. They did have ten guys and by ncaa rules we could have made them play right then but instead we waited. Some thanks.

[TheNino57]

CWU never said that WOU wasn't classy. I said I "was surprised at the comments" of one of your players- I was just straightening out the facts. I made the comment that Willamette was a class-act, I never said anything negative about WOU. If the WOU guys took it negatively, I apologize. The message boards are about discussion, not slander.

[Dan Wishengrad]

Thank you folks for straightening out this mis-understanding by yourselves without Kyle and me having to step in for some censorship and wrist-slapping.

The thing is I agree with most of the points in the past series of posts in this thread, not having been at any of the games in question. But all this leads me to a related topic:

We need to have plenty of communication BEFORE a game is played so that both teams AND the officials are in the loop. Failure to do game confirmations (this is the HOST team's job) at least 3-4 days before a game leads to confusion and uncertainty. Being a good host is not that complicated. Make sure everybody knows how to find the field and parking. You make sure the field meets NCAA specs, or have a waiver for alterable rules on file with and approved by the CAA and visitors. Have ample drinking water for the visitors. Have a TRAINED table crew with a triplicate scoresheet and all the neccessary equipment (read the PNCLL Guidelines!). Have plenty of game balls on the end line. Do a good job the first time stringing the nets, and have them done before teams want to start warming up. Make an effort to secure showers/lockerooms for the visitors and the refs. Have a trainer (or other acceptable alternative) available WITH ice, bags and bandages. That's basically it.
Anything more you do is optional. But sometimes the little touches mean the most. UC Davis back in the '80s would have a little cooler with Gatorade and power bars for the refs, and would bring out bags of cut up oranges for the visiting team at halftime. This was always appreciated and never forgotten.

Rivalries are played out on the field (okay and sometimes on the Message Board, too!). But before and after the game we are all bound together by our love of lacrosse. We ARE family -- even the bitterest on-field enemies. Showing courtesy to your visitors and being a good host is not just a nice thing to do, it is what is required of you whenver you are the home team. If everybody remembers that and makes a good faith effort we'll have far fewer problems and frustrations.

[WOULAX21]

My deepest apologies to willamette, the readers of this forum, and the league. I was not intending to come off sounding as i did in that post. i am very sorry for the unsportsmanship that was shown in that post. Once again i am sorry. We are a new team with a lot to prove. I will leave the proving to the games and scoreboards and nothing more. I am new to forum posting. I have learned a very valuable lesson and will keep it in mind whenever i post in the future. Please don't let this mishap hinder or ruin your image of Western Oregon Lacrosse. Thanks and I appologize again.

[Dr. Jason Stockton]

No worries Mark. We are happy to have the Wolves in the league this year and I personally have heard nothing but good things about the conduct of WOU on and off of the field. Keep up the good work.

[Dan Wishengrad]

Missing Scores and a correction:

From 2/26 & 2/27:
Whitman 19 Willamette 3
Whitman 10 Lewis & Clark 2

From 3/6
Whitman 12 Albertson 0

Standings now reflect all games played, weekly thread schedules updated.